Bryce Harper on back-to-back Player of the Week honors: "I hope I win it again"

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday for the second time in a row. Harper went 12-for-23 (.522), with a .656 on-base percentage and a 1.087 slugging percentage.

He had two doubles, one triple, two stolen bases, three homers and nine RBIs as the Nationals went 5-2 vs. Arizona and San Diego.

In May, Harper is hitting a blistering .411 clip, with a .529 OBP and a .982 slugging percentage. He is only the 10th player to take home the award in back-to-back weeks since its inception in 1974.

And is Harper fazed by winning the award it two weeks in a row? Not in the least.

"I hope I win it again," Harper said. "I mean, truly. I want come in every day and have some fun and enjoy it. The biggest thing that we're doing right now (is) winning ball games and we're playing great as a team and (the) whole team could've won that award."

Manager Matt Williams said there has been no great changes to the way Harper approaches his game. He believes what is happening for Harper in baseball right now comes from how much the player wants to get better and the talent he already possessed. Add experience, and he is excelling.

"I think that's just his progression," Williams said. "I think he's understanding himself and what he's good at and what he's not so good at. He's calm. He's swinging the bat well. He's seeing the ball well. That would all point to success for him."

With Harper getting on base and making things happen, his teammates have also been able to get him home. The pitching has kept the opponent off the scoreboard. That's been a huge part to the team's recent run.

"It's a lot of fun to be a part of a club like this and I give credit to a lot of guys around me and a lot of our pitchers, the way they're throwing right now," Harper said.

He leads Major League Baseball in six categories: runs scored, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Which statistic does Harper value the most?

"My walks and my runs, just trying to get on base for everybody and try to have good at-bats," Harper said. "I enjoy getting on base. If my on-base percentage is up, that means I'm getting the runs that I need to get guys. RBIs get us on board.

"That's the biggest thing. We got to get on the board and get some runs for these pitchers, and we do that then we are going to win a lot of ball games. Because our staff is very impressive and we're very excited about this year and I think a lot of people can see that."

Williams was a pretty good hitter himself during his time. He won Player of the Week honors four times and Player of the Month twice, and accumulated 1,878 hits in his 17-year career.

Does Harper lean on Williams for advice on how to get better? What do they talk about hitting-wise?

"We don't talk mechanics at all, we talk philosophy and what will hopefully take him to the level he wants to get to," Williams said. "But he's swinging the bat. I offer if he asks."

And Williams says Harper certainly values these honors, but winning will always be the most critical statistic.

"Of course it matters. It matters for Bryce and it matters for us," Williams said. "The bottom line to it, though, is if he's playing well then it helps our team, and he understands that and we all understand that.

"I think he wants to be a good as he possibly be. I think he's made that pretty clear to all you guys this season that he just wants to be a good player. He wants to be really good. So he's taking the steps to do that. And I'm proud of him for that."